incorporating manners of depicting Asclepius, early Christians could project a message of Christ as the one and only healing god, superior to any charlatan such as Asclepius.
From a contemporary point of view, it may appear problematic for Christians to drape themselves in the manner of their rivals and to depict Christ in such a way. The false notion may exist that early Christians embodied a pristine form of Christianity, unique and unspoiled and completely distinct from outsiders. However, it is logical that Christians would appear like any other ordinary citizen, and if there was a motivation, it was to blend in and not call attention. Christ’s dress was typical for a citizen in the empire, and it also exhibits the fact that Christians did not erase their Roman identity. A Christian was a member of the faith but also in many cases a Roman citizen. Christians were members of Late Antique society, and as members they dressed in the typical manner of the times.
Tertullian offered some insight on the dress of Christians. He characterized the shift in dress in third-century Carthage with the passage of time and shifting of fortune. The manner of dress of a garment thrown over the shoulder, baring the chest, was reserved for the priestly class: “The garment of the mantle extrinsically—itself too quadrangular—thrown back on either shoulder, and meeting closely round the neck in the gripe of the buckle, used to repose on the shoulders. Its counterpart is now the priestly dress, sacred to Asclepius, whom you now call your own.”32 Tertullian identified the pallium as equal to what he calls the “mantle.” The “mantle” indicated leisure and was also an identifier of professional intellectuals such as the Cynic philosophers. The popular dress of Tertullian’s Carthage included an undergarment with the mantle, similar to Christ’s “robe.” Christians wore similar dress as their non-Christian counterparts, thus inviting an explanation from
Tertullian. A shift in dress was practical, as Tertullian advocated its virtues, “What is your first sensation in wearing your gown? Do you feel yourself clad, or laded? Wearing a
32 Tertullian, The Pallium 1.1 (ANF 4.5).
garment, or carrying it?”33 The new dress was easier to manage and it covered the shoulders equally. He called the dress the suitable garment for a Christian: “But I confer on it likewise a fellowship with a divine sect and discipline. Joy, Mantle, and exult! A better philosophy has now deigned to honor thee, ever since thou hast begun to be a Christian’s vesture.”34 The dress Tertullian described, the dress of a Christian living in the empire, was the typical manner of dress used to depict Christ in visual imagery. Christ as depicted in the catacombs did not appear in the same dress as Asclepius statuary that was in existence.
Asclepius by contrast was usually depicted in a Greek himation, with or without one fold draped over the shoulder, and with his chest bare. In the catacomb paintings, Christ wears the dress that Tertullian was describing, with the inclusion of the chiton underneath the pallium, a manner Tertullian was conscious of. Christ in the catacombs was appearing in a familiar compositional dress to his audience, not in a manner that would appear unlikely or foreign. In the catacombs as the Christians are developing their iconographic language, it is appropriate that they would clothe their Christ in the customary dress. Christ looks like everyone else in the paintings, and likely resembled the fourth-century audience viewing the paintings. He appeared like an everyman, albeit a fairly prosperous everyman. It was his miracle working actions that set him apart from every other figure.
With such a different appearance than the healing god, it can be argued that the catacomb Christ wearing the robe, bearing short hair and often beardless, does not resemble Asclepius at all.35 The attributes of Asclepius in iconography were his staff, his bare chest, and quite often his beard. The appearance of the beard in visual representations of
33 Tertullian, Pall. 5.1 (ANF 4.11).
34 Tertullian, Pall. 6.2 (ANF 4.12).
35 See James Breckenridge’s findings, Likeness: A Conceptual History of Ancient Portraiture (Evanston, IL:
Northwestern University Press, 1968), 249.
Asclepius and Christ requires some explanation. In the third and fourth-century Roman catacombs Christ’s beard is not uniformly depicted. In large part, the catacomb paintings of Christ portray him beardless, however there are still exceptions until the bearded Christ becomes standard following the sixth century.36 The earliest example appears in the coffered ceiling of a cubiculum at the catacomb of Commodilla, Christ is bearded with a nimbus and a flanking alpha and omega (Figure 5). This image would become a typical mode of
depicting the “cosmic Christ” in fourth and fifth-century Christian art.37 Instances of a bearded or beardless Christ do not reflect a direct connection with Asclepius since there were many representations of gods fully bearded.
Asclepius is normally portrayed with a full beard as in the statue that resides now in the Capitoline Museum in Rome.38 Asclepius was also not the only god depicted with a beard. Jupiter, Neptune, Mars, and Sarapis were other gods that were depicted with full heads of hair and lustrous beards.39 Certain representations of a bearded Jesus reflect general attributes of the gods of the pantheon, as in the enthroned, majestic image of a bearded Christ at Santa Pudenziana from 400.40 It is difficult to conclude whether the beard
36 And not even then; instances in Byzantine art portray a beardless Christ as well, including San Vitale in Ravenna (546 CE).
37 In cubiculum N5 of Commodilla.
38 Although it was not uncommon to visually depict Asclepius beardless. See Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2.10.3; also see 2.13.5, “an image of the god not having a beard,” (Jones, LCL); Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods, 3.34.83 (Rackham, LCL), see Emma J. Edelstein and Ludwig Edelstein, Asclepius: A Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies, vols. I and II (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1945), vol. I, 368-359. Edelstein suggests that the beardless Asclepius is a relic of the past before the bearded Asclepius became the normative manner of depiction. A beardless Asclepius would be an apt choice of depiction as the cult was beginning to replace the cult of Apollo and capitalize on its status as the preeminent healing cult in the Roman world, Edelstein, vol. II, 220. These texts are balanced by recollections of the bearded Asclepius. See Minucius Felix, Octavius, 23.5, and see Lucian’s entreaty to Apollo to “not play the boy with us Apollo. Say what you think boldly and don’t be sensitive about speaking without a beard when you have such a long-bearded, hairy-faced son in Asclepius.”
Lucian, Jupiter the Tragedian 26 (Edelstein, T. 684). Note Augustine’s comments in Sermon 24.6 that Hercules’
strength was in his beard.
39 For further reading, see Jensen, Face to Face, 62.
of Jesus is recalling a particular god or all of them, but perhaps it is safer to realize that the beard generally connects Jesus with the “ruling” and authoritative nature of the mature gods depicted with beards.
The issue of the beard urges the question: does a beard recall Asclepius, and if the beard was so critical, why does the catacomb Jesus appear beardless in many instances? 41 The instance of a bearded Christ does not conclusively link him to Asclepius since as mentioned above the healing god was not the only deity portrayed with a beard. The
beardless examples in the catacombs reveal that the Christians were utilizing several elements of familiar Greco-Roman iconographic precedents to depict their subject.42 Christians were influenced by the existing pagan iconography that included bearded gods and youthful beardless gods such as Apollo.
Robin M. Jensen states that the figures in the catacombs operate more as actors in a drama than as devotional portraits.43 With this in mind, the figures in the catacombs serve a narrative purpose to convey a message. Exhibiting Christ as a wisdom teacher, as a miracle worker, or a healer implies the special nature of Christ. It is important to examine how Christ was visually portrayed—his dress and manner of depiction—to realize what influenced the Christian conception of Christ. In addition to the physical depiction of Christ, it is the context and the action of the figures in the scenes that reveal a competition
40 Thomas Mathews has also argued that the enthroned bearded image is also connected to the portrayals of the emperor, as the emperor desired to be clad with the attributes of the gods as well. See Clash of the Gods, 92-114.
It should be noted that the ruling, majestic bearded type of Christ was favored as the healing type diminished after the fifth century.
41 However, Erich Dinkler has argued that a bearded Christ begs a direct relation to Asclepius and was modeled upon Asclepius. See Erich Dinkler (Christus und Asklepios (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1980), 15. Dinkler believes this is so and is rejected by Deichmann, 161 and Paul Zanker, The Mask of Socrates (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), 100.
42 Also see Jensen, Face to Face, 159, and the preceding pages on her treatment of the beard.
43 Jensen, Face to Face, 151.
and the motivation for portrayals of Christ in the act of healing and working miracles. In the catacombs, Christ is largely portrayed beardless or with a slight trace of a beard, more akin to representations of youthful gods than the bearded gods. However, Christ is largely
portrayed in these instances healing or performing feats of wonder and acting as a savior.
Thus, Christ’s appearance or dress may not reflect Asclepius but his action in these scenes does. Christ is in the act of healing and working miracles in a different manner than Asclepius, occasionally with touch and often with the staff. Whether with a hand or staff, beard or beardless, the images of Jesus attempt to convince the viewer that Jesus is a greater healer than any other representative from pagan traditions.
The depiction of Christ’s physical, tactile healing power is one example of the visual supersession taking place, as is the more subtle appropriation of the indelible staff of Jesus.
One particular catacomb image at Via Latina offers an opportunity to debate the influence of Asclepius on representations of Christ. The image includes a bearded teacher surrounded by disciples with what appears to be a patient at their feet. It is a scene involving healing and it is unclear who the main character is supposed to represent. If it is an image of Jesus it is unlike any other recovered painting in the catacombs.